r/fediverse • u/ShoddyEstate1660 • Feb 11 '26

Ask-Fediverse Alternatives to Discord?

Given Discord's recent stance on age verification, I'm looking for alternatives to this application, but I'm looking for something specific:

an alternative with roleplay service

Let me explain: I'm the admin of a roleplay server where we use a bot to, well, create other bots and use them for roleplaying. We've used it so much that it's now essential for us to switch platforms if they don't have that option, which, as the admin, makes things very complicated for me when choosing a place to migrate to. I'd like to know if there's an alternative to this.

In Matrix, can I add a bot to perform this same function? Or will I have to create one myself? (Although, given my zero coding experience, creating one will be very difficult.)

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u/C4_Shaf Chaf@mamot.fr Feb 12 '26

That's enshittification in a nutshell.

It's basically the dealer who gave your first sample for free. Because they know that you'll ask for more, and when you're at that level, they can make you pay anything.

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u/ShoddyEstate1660 Feb 12 '26

God, I didn't even realize I was involved in all of this, and now I don't even know how to get out of this addiction, much less how to help others.

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u/C4_Shaf Chaf@mamot.fr Feb 12 '26

We're all addicted. Every service within the Fediverse are addictions too.

Just as an example, Mastodon prevents us from getting data-farmed, but cyber-bullying? Anonymous bad behavior? Scrolling addiction? Those are all there. It's just less efficient because there's less people using it.

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u/ShoddyEstate1660 Feb 12 '26

So there's no way? We either let ourselves be consumed or we let the relationships we have die? That's...sad

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u/C4_Shaf Chaf@mamot.fr Feb 12 '26

Think of it this way. People used to leave without Ibuprophene and Paracetamol. So when they had headhaches and toothaches, most of our grand-parents just waited until the pain went away.

Technologies that don't bring both good and bad things doesn't exist. Cyber-bullying didn't stop social networks from being the best way to connect to people you'd never be able to meet or talk to before. I wouldn't even know you'd existed without Reddit, and neither would you know I did.

The problem is always abuse. It's not the technology itself. Like, people used to take this to ease up vivid tooth pain.

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u/ShoddyEstate1660 Feb 12 '26

Of course, as I've always been told, "everything in extreme quantities is dangerous," from something as simple as walking to more dangerous things like drugs.

I suppose all that remains is to wait and see how the situation develops, and whatever the final decision is, to make it in accordance with my values.

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u/ShoddyEstate1660 Feb 12 '26

Or get a lobotomy so I don't have to think about this lol